1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers for containing flora and fauna, and more particularly to a wall mountable container that is preferably employed as an aquarium for holding marine life-type fauna, such as tropical fish, and associated underwater flora; or else as a terrarium for holding air breathing fauna, such as lizards, frogs and snakes and/or associated flora, or else as an ant farm type terrarium.
2. Background Information
Along with providing transparent walls, an aquarium manufacturer must take care to ensure that the tank is made to be sturdy, for when the tank is used as an aquarium, it will hold water. The weight of water exerts significant pressure against the side walls of the aquarium, thereby requiring the walls to be strong enough to withstand this pressure. Additionally, when separate panels are joined together to form the aquarium walls, the seals between the panels must be made to be both strong and leak proof, to ensure that the water within the tank does not leak out through the seams.
Conventionally, aquariums and terrariums are designed to be placed on a flat horizontal surface, such as the top of a cabinet or table, or the shelf of a bookcase. However, some prior known aquariums have been invented and exist that are designed to be used on vertical surfaces, such as a wall or the like. Examples of such wall-mounted aquariums are shown in Youn, U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,684 and Waldman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,694.
Along with the tank, a typical aquarium or terrarium will often include one or more accessories that are used in connection with the tank. One such accessory is a light assembly for illuminating the interior of the tank. It has been found by users of aquariums that a light helps to better illuminate the flora and fauna within the tank, and thus provides a more pleasing aesthetic appearance to the terrarium or aquarium, along with facilitating the user in viewing the flora or fauna contained within the tank. Additionally, aquariums will often require filters for filtering the water within an aquarium. Filters are used to filter out material such as biological decay material, which if left unfiltered and remained in the tank, could be harmful to the aquatic life within the tank. Light assemblies and filters are usually electrically powered, and include cords and plugs to connect the lights and filters to a source of AC power.
Although lights and filters are valuable, and some cases necessary to the proper operation of an aquarium or other tank containing flora or fauna, light assemblies and filters often have an appearance that detracts from the overall aesthetics of the aquarium. As such, it would be helpful to provide a mechanism that helps to “hide” the light filter assembly and associated cords to thereby improve the aesthetic appearance of the aquarium.
Although the patents mentioned above no doubt disclose devices that perform their function in a workman-like manner, room for improvement exists. In particular, room for improvement exists in providing a tank system for an aquarium or terrarium that includes a mounting system for mounting the tank onto a vertical wall that facilitates easy placement of the aquarium on the wall, and easy removal of the tank from the wall.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tank system that is placeable upon a vertical mounting surface such as a wall that has an enhanced aesthetic appearance that is achieved, at least in part, by providing a frame that is capable of helping to conceal from view tank accessories, such as light assemblies and filter assemblies.
Preferably, the frame is designed to be easily attachable to, and removable from the tank so that the user can change out a particular frame for another frame. This interchangeability of the frames permits the user to quickly alter the aesthetics of the device, and the room in which it is contained.